Panic attacks
Support for racing thoughts, panic episodes and chest tightness.
Anxiety Counselling · Portslade
Anxiety Counselling for Portslade and the surrounding area, in person or online. Portslade, just west of Hove, blends the historic Old Village with Portslade-by-Sea and the harbour. From my room in nearby Hove I offer a calm, confidential space to do this work.

In and around Portslade
Life in Portslade
Portslade is really two places joined at the hip. Up the hill there is Portslade Old Village and Mile Oak, all flint and quiet lanes; down at the bottom is Portslade-by-Sea, with Shoreham Harbour still working away at the end of the road. Between them run Boundary Road and Station Road, busy at shift-change and half asleep at three in the afternoon. Anxiety here often attaches itself to work: hours that shift about, contracts with no promise in them, a wage that has to stretch. It also attaches itself to sleep, because a body kept alert for early starts does not switch off obediently just because the alarm has been turned off for the weekend.
Areas covered
Wherever you are in Portslade, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
Official figures for Portslade, for context rather than as a description of you.
26.7% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, above the England average of 23.8%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Self-reported wellbeing: high anxiety score (2022/23).
Reviewed June 2026.
Anxiety counselling here is practical and solution-focused: we work on the worry, panic, social anxiety and over-thinking that are actually affecting your day, and on simple ways to settle a nervous system stuck on high alert.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the main anxiety counselling page, with how I work for the practical questions and qualifications, registration and ethics for registration and ethics.
Sessions take place in a private, comfortable room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove, held to the strict BACP confidentiality you would expect. We begin with a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, and the same sessions are available by secure video if travelling is difficult or you would simply prefer it.
This is one of the shortest journeys anyone makes to see Bradley. Portslade is a short hop east along the coast road, around ten minutes by car or bus, or two stops on the train to Hove. That makes a face-to-face hour genuinely practical even around a shift. Where the rota will not allow it, the same work happens online by secure video, including early or late slots. Most people mix the two without any fuss.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Support for racing thoughts, panic episodes and chest tightness.
Help with confidence, self-consciousness and fear of judgement.
Support for overthinking, catastrophising and decision paralysis.
Working with the need for control and approval.
Calming a nervous system stuck on high alert.
Tools for when anxiety starts to take hold.
Anxiety Counselling in Portslade
Anxiety counselling is problem-solving work more than it is unburdening. The starting point is understanding why your system is behaving this way, because panic, constant worry and a churning stomach all stop feeling random once you can see the mechanism. From there it is skills: dropping the arousal on purpose, catching the thought loops that feed it, and testing out the situations you have started to duck. When work is insecure or the shifts keep changing, a decent chunk of the hour goes on sleep and on the specific worries you carry to and from Southern Cross each day. City-wide, 26.7% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, against 23.8% for England as a whole. The Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service takes self-referrals for anxiety, no GP appointment required, and Mind in Brighton and Hove has information and peer groups if you would rather begin with something less formal.
Not sure if it is right for you? A free fifteen-minute call is a no-obligation way to talk it through.
Book a free 15-minute callMy counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Portslade, you can refer yourself directly to the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service for free NHS talking therapy, with no GP referral needed.
Seeing me privately usually means you can start sooner and stay with the same counsellor throughout, working at greater depth and pace; the two can run side by side, and I am glad to work alongside any NHS or GP support you already have.
Other local and national support verified for this area includes:
This is not a crisis service. If anyone is in immediate danger call 999. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. The Samaritans are free, day or night, on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
Portslade questions
In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. Portslade is a short hop east along New Church Road or the coast road, around ten minutes by car or bus, or two stops on the train to Hove. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Portslade or blend the two.
For most people in Portslade, yes. It is roughly ten minutes by car or two stops by train, so an hour in Hove need not swallow half a day. If the rota changes at short notice, sessions can move to secure video that week rather than being cancelled.
Normally within a week or two. It begins with a free 15-minute call, which is simply a chance to describe what is going on and ask whatever you want to ask. If you decide to go ahead, a regular weekly slot is agreed then and there.
£80 buys a 60-minute session. Ninety minutes is £100 and two hours is £120, which some people use for a first appointment. That opening 15-minute consultation is free. There are no assessment fees, joining fees or cancellation traps hidden underneath.
It often is. As the NHS Talking Therapies service for the city it takes self-referrals and costs nothing, and for straightforward worry or panic it helps a lot of people. Waits fluctuate, so referring yourself there while starting privately is a reasonable move.
Counselling will not fix the rota or the bills. What it can do is stop the worry running all night, help you think clearly enough to make decisions, and separate genuine problem-solving from the endless rehearsing that keeps you awake. That distinction changes a lot on its own.
Yes. My Hove room is only around ten minutes east along New Church Road, or a couple of stops on the train from Portslade Station. There is parking nearby. If getting across is awkward, online video sessions are just as effective and private.
Book a free fifteen-minute call, then a first session. Portslade sits just west of Hove, so the room is close: New Church Road buses reach central Hove in about ten minutes, or the train from Portslade Station is a couple of stops. Prefer to stay put? Online video works.
Private sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two, after a free consultation. You can self-refer to free NHS Talking Therapies for Brighton & Hove without a GP, but waits are common, so private work on your anxiety can begin sooner.
Both suit anxiety. Being close by, many Portslade clients pop over to the room, which can feel grounding, while others prefer secure video from home, especially with social anxiety. You can mix the two, and evening and weekend slots fit around work at the harbour or elsewhere.
A free fifteen-minute call is the simplest place to start, no obligation, just a chance to see if we are the right fit.
Also available nearby: Hove, Southwick, Hangleton. See all areas I cover.
Related work in Portslade: depression counselling, trauma counselling and counselling and therapy.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about the miracle question and settling a spike of urgency.
Prefer to meet remotely? The same anxiety counselling is available online by secure video across the UK, or see online counselling by region.